Upphaf Máldagabóka og Stjórnsýslu biskupa

Nýjar athuganir á Kirknatali Páls biskups

Abstract

A list of churches in the diocese of Skálholt that has survived in post-Reformation copies has traditionally been associated with the reference in Páls saga biskups to Bishop Páll Jónsson having the churches and ministries in his diocese counted during his time in office (1195–1211). There is good reason to believe that the surviving list has its origins in this early bureaucratic initiative, but examination of additions to and possible omissions from this list suggests that the common predecessor of the extant versions had been updated regularly, and that it described conditions as they were in the diocese in the first half of the 14th century. The surviving list can therefore not be used as evidence as to which churches had ministries around 1200. It may be that the list was used as an administrative resource until 1320–1370 when the compilation of far more detailed cartularies rendered it obsolete.